ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Murdered - Moscow # 6

[FruitTingles]

I'll say some people are very easy to clear because there is direct evidence that shows they were not near the scene of a crime. Other people, who may be just as innocent, are not easily officially cleared because there is not direct evidence of their location.

Imagine a crime takes place in Moscow, Idaho. They think my client did it. My client was on a plane from Boise to LA during that time. LE can quickly confirm checking: plane ticket, if my client boarded, security camera at the airport in Boise, security camera at the airport in LA. They can conclusively clear him based on direct evidence pretty quickly.

Now what if instead my client says he was at his mom's house in Moscow? How do we clear him then? If there's no security cameras showing him coming (and not leaving), you are left looking for witnesses, subpoenaing phone and car GPS, canvasing the neighborhood for security cameras. It may take a while to confirm yes - client WAS home and could not have committed this crime. Or maybe there's no direct evidence either way and you are left tabling someone until you can figure it out.

So IMO "clearing" or "not clearing" someone can be a process. People easily cleared usually means there's some good evidence they were elsewhere. Others may just take longer to decide.

This is an excellent post! Thank you!

 

[hopewell]

- If all the victims were asleep, then these killings almost certainly wouldn't be the result of some rowdy party gone wrong.
- It would also indicate there wasn't any MSNBC-reported 'struggle' prior to being killed.
- It would also suggest that whomever did it intended to kill ALL of them from the get-go.
- It also suggests an impersonal, disconnected crime.

That's not a pissed off ex-boyfriend, a slighted frat bro, or a miffed incel. That's a pathological, sadistic sicko. Hope they're finding out who skinned that poor dog alive a couple of months ago.

My opinion.

 

[ExpectingUnicorns]

I don't really doubt that the other roommates didn't hear anything if what LE says that EACH victim was asleep when they were killed is true. The killer may have quietly gone room by room putting a pillow over the victim's face and stabbing them.

Because of this, I am having a hard time thinking about who the killer could be. If it were truly "targeted" and "personal," they could have stopped after their target. It makes no sense for the murder to be targeted AND kill 2-3 other people in their sleep. That's like dedicated thrill kill or serial killer behavior - where the goal is the killing, not the elimination of a person out of an emotional reasons (love, hate, anger, betrayal).

I was confused by LE stating that EACH victim was asleep when killed. How, if they were asleep, could any of the victims have sustained defensive wounds? Could it be possible he meant asleep when 'attacked' rather than 'killed'? The misspeaking is really confusing.

 

[guestwriter]

That's an interesting angle.
I guess it would depend on what was said ?

I’m confused if two bodies were on 2 floor and 2 bodies on 3r floor then who or where was the unconscious person mentioned in the 911 call. If one of the girls called wouldn’t she see blood and the second body and e screaming….Something doesn’t seem right?

 

[whirrledpeas]

Something I’ve been pondering about.

If this was a targeted killing, it seems to me that LE should be (and probably is) looking for a common denominator among the four that were killed.

Why were the other two spared of this was targeted? The only reason I can think of would be if their area of the house was locked or unable to be accessed. Do we know the first floor/basement layout? Are there two bedrooms there?

If their space was below the main entrance of the home, then maybe they were not attacked if the perpetrator(s) didn’t know there were bedrooms downstairs and just missed them due to their location.

Which would possibly suggest this was not targeted. MOO

ETA: The owner of the property said there were three entrances to the house. Not sure if the map has been posted here but I’m assuming the main entrance would have been the one on the second floor.

If map hasn’t been posted, I can link. Haven’t checked the media thread.

 

[kittythehare]

This. What if the 4 arrived back at same time and maybe one girl laid on other girl's bed to chat and passed out so they left her there and then slept in her bed. Or some other reason they weren't in their own beds.

Yes.
Or because one had officially moved out and was just back for the weekend, a realignment of sleeping accommodation had occurred in the interim?

 

[girlhasnoname]

How do you kill 2 people in the same bed without one waking up, screaming, and fighting like hell?? I don't get it

We don't know if they were sleeping 2 to one bed. M&K have separate rooms. Maybe E knocked out on the couch and wasn't sleeping in bed with X.

The coroner said the fatal blows were to the chest and neck. One deep stab wound to the heart or neck could render a victim incapable of screaming or fighting.

MOO

 

[jjenny]

Now I’m confused.I’ve never heard of a door that has a passcode you put in that then opens the back sliding door.I assumed it opened the front door only.

Pass code wouldn't open the sliding door. It was for the front door.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I'm unclear on this as well. In the prepared statement he gave a list of who is cleared and he wasn't on it.

Unless I missed it, I didn't think he said that was a complete list. That means those people could have been cleared, but there may be others cleared who he didn't name in that moment, either because he forgot to name them (my guess) or he didn't realize all the speculation since the calls were not connected.

MOO.

 

[acutename]

What's interesting is they still don't have their communications/messaging act together. JMO. Didn't he say "I didn't say a roommate didn't make the call" at one point? I thought that was already stated in the earlier presser. So are they going back on that?

I do not think the know who used what phone, IMO
maybe do not have carrier info to x-ref or something

 

[girlhasnoname]

I kept hoping for some questions/clarification on FBI being utilized and any initial ideas. The perp traits, etc. any clarification on behavior analysis division working on it.
Are they - FBI - doing the processing of evidence? (I hope so.)
Does it feel like perhaps there's some evidence that "could" be helpful?
DNA, perhaps?
I'm expecting too much too soon, probably.

They did say there were 2 dedicated FBI Behavioral Specialists working on the case.

 

[Cardinal47]

Thinking ‘fight or fright’! As outgoing as I tend to be I am paralyzed when scared.

Once we had a drunk man on our porch. Hubby said ‘call 911 while I watch him’!

I couldn’t move. I was beyond frightened.

 

[bitethehand]

The stalker argument no longer makes sense to me. Why kill all 4? It was feasible when there was a hypothesis that some may have been killed because they encountered or witnessed the killer. But as they said today distinctly all 4 were killed in their sleep I can’t see a correlation between that and the stalker obsession with only one individual.

JMO. This resembles Ted Bundy's massacre at the FSU sorority. Followed a girl to the sorority and eventually entered and wreaked havoc with more that just the initial target. JMO.

And he attacked all the victims as they slept.

 

[mickey2942]

Moscow, ID is a fairly small community. A lot of students don't even have cars, and ride bikes everywhere, even in winter. I wouldn't assume that the killer drove a car and left in a car. Running biking, all acceptable in a college town, at any hour of the night. Especially as so many of the students train and participate in the CDA triathlon.

The presser was interesting, and it sounds like this quadruple homicide is a problem for the university. Sounds like they have already heard from many students that they are not coming back for finals.

 

[Simply Southern]

Now he says he believes there's no connection from the calls to J to the murders?

But...his initial statement acknowledged the calls and did not specifically clear J.
The hesitation, choice of words, seemed like a red flag, to me.
JMHO...

 

[ShadyLady]

I might be in the minority. But, I think LE is trying hard to solve this case, without damaging the process. They gave us as much as they could. IMO, clearing someone, is different than saying we dont think they were involved. And letting public know they suspect it was "targeted" means less danger to community in general.

And they cleared as many people as they could.

 

[Noki45]

Pass code wouldn't open the sliding door. It was for the front door.

Thank you that’s what I thought it does.

 

[FruitTingles]

Unless I missed it, I didn't think he said that was a complete list. That means those people could have been cleared, but there may be others cleared who he didn't name in that moment, either because he forgot to name them (my guess) or he didn't realize all the speculation since the calls were not connected.

MOO.

Hmm, I respectfully disagree. I am not saying I suspect him of anything, I just think it was very important to throw in Kaylee’s ex’s name on that list if it was pertinent to do so. JMO.

 

[MeadowMuffin]

Right. But my comment is still correct. Whether they were the caller or not, they still took the time to summon other friends and wait for them to arrive before anyone called 911.

Why would the roommates have to summon their friends? Do you have information that they did? And then waited around for them to take their time and show up? Not human nature. Perhaps there were plans already in place to meet as a group at X time, and then go out to brunch.

 

[Erutan]

They wanted to clear up speculation about the surviving roommates, hoodie guy and private driver back to the residence. Said all those were clear. For J, it was a little bit of a stumbling answer and sounded like he was trying to be careful about how he worded it. Basically, J isn't a POI or suspect, but is not cleared.

bbm
I didn't catch that. ^^^

If LE say someone is not a suspect/poi, that does not mean they're cleared ?
M00.